32 wrote:Avery Johnson doesn't get any love from me, either... but for a different reason.

Unlike every bitching shemale in LA, I don't believe there was any sort of "conspiracy between Nelly and Avery to get Golden State into the playoffs". Teams who clinch first place often rest their players on the road. You see it in every sport. Dallas doesn't want a freak accident to befall Dirk, Howard, or Stack before the playoffs. They've got this season in the bag. There's no reason to start wailing about it because you got the short end of the stick, Clippers fans. Quit your bitching and moaning already.

On the contrary, I think it was a ball-less move by Avery spawned by the fact that Dallas had a no-win situation. I'll explain what I mean: As the #1 team in the league, a win against the likes of Golden State is expected. Dallas has 66 wins, Golden State has 41. The Mavericks, by anybody's standards, are supposed to molly-whomp on the Warriors everytime they meet. However, for reasons unknown, the Warriors have some unexplainable ownage on Dallas as of late, so the game seemed more evenly matched. Therefore, from Dallas' point of view, the game had two outcomes: win expectedly and get no props from anyone for it... or lose the game and start everyone talking about a Warriors upset in the first round of the playoffs (and possibly spook your team... something Avery, with the famous choker Dirk Nowitski on his roster, doesn't wanna do).

Therefore, rather than swallowing it and going into the bad situation Dallas had ahead of them, Avery waved the white flag and gave the Warriors a win. It's pathetic, to me. I don't mind the W, but Avery's coaching tactics aren't impressing me at all.

I agree with your analysis of his motivation, but to me, that makes him a smart coach. They go all out and lose, the Ws are in their heads like a motherf**ker, and this way it is all dismissed as Mavs mailing it in, etc...it is a very smart move by one of the best coaches in the league.

I think it would have sent a stronger message to his players if Avery said, "Look, man, we all know this Golden State sh*t's been a fluke lately... lets go out there and blow them out of the water. We'll sink their playoff hopes AND bury the rumors about them having any sort of advantage on us."

Instead, he succeeded to the Warriors before the game even started. If I'm on his roster, suddenly I'm thinking that maybe our coach doesn't believe we can take these guys...

ESPECIALLY after he sent in Devin Harris and Jason Terry midway through the game. It was almost as if Avery pulled his head out of the sand, realized that the game was win-able, and then decided to put forth half an effort just in case. If I'm on the Dallas Mavericks, I don't believe our coach thinks we can beat Golden State... and I'm spooked right now.